Heirloom Tomato Tarts

The Beauty of Simple French Cooking

Something I’ve noticed whenever I’m in France is a certain ease in the day-to-day food. There is a simplicity to the way ingredients are combined that results in beautiful dishes where you taste the flavor of each element. It feels subtly, but noticeably, different from many other cuisines.

Cuisine du Terroir

Cuisine du Terroir is a French style of cooking rooted in the land, celebrating the ingredients themselves, in contrast to the more elaborate traditions of Haute Cuisine. Terroir tells the story of an ingredient—the soil it grew in, the water, the air, the climate, and the hands that cultivated and prepared it. It speaks to the history and sense of place behind every dish.

You’ll find Cuisine du Terroir throughout France, but perhaps nowhere is it more evident than in the locations where the ingredients are grown. Normandy is famous for its rich butter and cream, Provence for its abundance of farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and, of course, every region has its own wines and cheeses that reflect the landscape they come from.

From the Earth to the Table

These are the dishes born in small villages and countryside homes, where fresh herbs and produce are picked from the garden or bought at the local market. This is the food that inspires me.

Heirloom Tomato Tarts

These tomato tarts are one of those dishes. They remind me of summertime meals eaten en plein air in the countryside of Provence. Thick slices of ripe, juicy tomatoes are layered over buttery pastry, spread with a swipe of Dijon mustard, sprinkled with Gruyère cheese, and finished with herbs, salt, and freshly ground pepper before being baked until golden.

They’re the kind of tarts you can pick up and eat with your hands at a picnic or serve with a simple green salad for lunch. Either way, they’re absolutely delicious.

As the tomatoes roast, they become sweeter and more concentrated, yet they still taste wonderfully fresh. The herb-infused pastry bakes into a crisp, buttery crust, while the Dijon mustard and Gruyère melt together into a delicate layer that complements the tomatoes rather than overpowering them. And perhaps best of all, they’re beautiful on a plate or platter.

I use my All Butter Pastry Dough recipe to make the tart shells, but an unsweetened store-bought pie dough or butter puff pastry works beautifully when you’re short on time.

A Few Notes Before You Begin

This is one of those recipes that’s meant to be more of a guide than a set of strict rules. The size of your tarts will depend on the tomatoes you find at the market or pick from your garden, so don’t worry about making them perfectly identical.

• Use a mix of ripe, but still firm, tomatoes. I like to use different-colored heirloom tomatoes for a beautiful presentation. Cut two thick slices from the widest part of each tomato, where they’re at their meatiest. The leftover tomatoes never go to waste—I simply toss them into a garden salad.
• Shape the pastry however you prefer. You can divide the dough into six pieces and roll each one into a circle. Or, do what I do: roll the dough into one large rectangle, then use a small bowl or dessert plate that’s just slightly larger than your tomato slices to cut out six rounds. If needed, give each round one more pass with the rolling pin before adding the filling.
• Adjust the pastry to fit your tomatoes. If your tomatoes are a little larger, roll the pastry a little larger. If they’re smaller, make smaller tarts. Just leave about 1½ inches (4 cm) of pastry around the tomatoes, so you have enough dough to fold and pleat over the edges.

You may also like: